Referring to its revolutionary device as the ‘poster child of the post-PC world’ the third generation Apple tablet or the new iPad to give its official name was unveiled by Tim Cook with some of the features that had long been rumoured and few more that may have took some by surprise.

The question is, is there enough to convince iPad 2 users that it’s worth the upgrade?  Ready to read why this may well be your next tech purchase? Off we go…

1. Retina Display and a (slightly) new form factor

Apple has Doubled the screen resolution to 2048 x 1536, that’s 3.1 million pixels crammed into the new Retina display which Apple claims is the “The most ever in a mobile device.” Like the iPhone 4S it will have 264ppi which makes it enough to be regarded as a Retina display. 40% more colour saturation should mean richer, more vibrant images which is great news for multimedia viewing.

It seems that carrying that Retina display has added some extra girth to the new iPad taking the thickness from 8.33mm to 9.44mm and weighing in at 1.4lbs which is up from 1.3lbs. So it’s bigger, but in theory shouldn’t be significant enough to change your handling experience.

2. iOS 5.1

The new iPad will come packing the latest iOS update which will bring a new Camera app primed for the new iPad snapping features which includes the ability to turn your iPad into a personal hotspot while there is also support for dicatation in English, French, German and Japanese which is the nest point.

3. Voice dictation

The microphone located at the bottom of the device, now enables users to talk to their iPad and convert words into text. Seemingly born out of Apple’s relationship with Dragon, all you’ll need to do is tap the microphone icon on the keyboard and you can turn your chat into messages,statuses and even take notes.

4. iSight camera

Bringing it line with the iPhone 4S in the snapping department, the new iPad now has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with an illuminated sensor, as well as an IR filter, auto-exposure, auto focus an a 5-element lens amongst other features. For those of you take pictures with an iPad, you are probably going to be happy with that.

5. Quad-core GPU graphics

The new iPad packs a A5X processor which delivers quad-core prowess in the graphics department and should ramp up its overall gaming performance. Add to that a dual core CPU processor and you’ll also be getting a slick multi-touch, browsing and navigation performance.

6. Battery life

Despite the quad core processor and Retina display, Apple insists that the iPad 2 will boast the same 10 hour battery life as its predecessor, which is good news considering the new tech on board.

7. 1080p Recording

Already capable of 1080p output via the HDMI adaptor, there’s more iPhone 4S features with the introduction of 1080p video recording which looks set to have software stabilization under the hood to improve your shakey full HD shooting.

8. iPhoto

The Retina display ensures that the new iPad is prepped for high quality snaps and now a new iPhoto app has been introduced bringing with it new gestures, new effects, multi-touch editing and will allow you to send images directly between devices.

9. Price

New iPad with Wi-Fi Prices

• 16GB Wi-Fi – $499
• 32GB Wi-Fi – $599
• 64GB Wi-Fi – $699

New iPad with 4G LTE Prices

• 16GB 4G LTE – $629
• 32GB 4G LTE – $729
• 64GB 4G LTE – $829

 

10.  Release date

According to 9to5mac, Apple’s next iPad will be launched on March 16th.

 

Source- [Google][Engadget][T3]